And That Happened

Dodgers 3, Brewers 1: After the last scene of Don Mattingly’s managerial life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that at many times along the path of his time in Los Angeles, especially at the very lowest and saddest times, there was only one set of footprints. Clayton Kershaw then whispered, “My precious child, I love you and will never leave you. Never, ever, during your trials and testings. When you saw only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.” (9 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 5K).

Diamondbacks 5, Rockies 1: Patrick Corbin continues to roll on, and this time he added some strikeouts to skew dominant. He allowed one run on three hits, striking out ten.

Marlins 5, Phillies 1: The Marlins have 13 wins this season, four of which have come against Philly. That’s gotta make the Phillies angry. Cole Hamels was certainly angry, as he left the clubhouse in something of a huff. Maybe it’s because Charlie Manuel pulled him early for a pinch hitter in an effort to get a run? Maybe it was because the Phillies have scored only 20 runs for him all season? Maybe because he saw Alex Sanabia throwing a spitball?

Indians 10, Mariners 8: Two homers for Yan Gomes as the Indians continue to roll. Winners of 18 of 22 and a team that doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere.

Braves 5, Twins 1: Sometimes I wish Gleeman and I were competitive rah-rah fans so when stuff like our teams meeting happens we could talk trash and all that. But we’re not. I suppose if I sent him some “in your face” kind of message after this one he’d respond back with “oh well.” Which is way better for the blood pressure, frankly. A three-run homer for Dan Uggla and a nice outing from Julio Teheran.

Reds 4, Mets 3: Jay Bruce hit a tie-breaking homer in the sixth. Arolids Chapman, who blew his previous two saves, locked this one down. Dusty Baker on his closer:

“Got to get back on the horse, right away,” manager Dusty Baker said. “Otherwise it festers and grows.”

The horse? So confused.

Blue Jays 7, Rays 5: R.A. Dickey is slowly righting the ship, winning his second in a row. You have to right the ship or else it gets all infected and oozes. Or something. Sorry, that Dusty Baker quote is still bugging me.

Yankees 6, Orioles 4: The Orioles are in a flat spin, losers of six straight. People usually say “tailspin” but I liked “Top Gun” a lot when I was a kid and flat spins are far more ominous and scary for me, Goose. With the Yankees down 4-3 in the ninth, Travis Hafner homered off Jim Johnson, who has now blown three straight saves. Vernon Wells and Hafner added RBIs in the 10th to seal the win. Mariano Rivera did not, in contrast, blow the save. Because he is Mariano Rivera.

Athletics 9, Rangers 2: It feels like these two teams have played 15 games against one another in the past couple of weeks. Oh well, too busy to check. Gonna assume that’s right. Anyway, Seth Smith homered and scored three runs. Bartolo Colon pitched seven strong innings.

White Sox 6, Reds Sox 4: Sox win.

Padres 4, Cardinals 2: Jason Marquis has won five straight starts. He said after the game that he’s “making better pitches.” Bud Black said after the game that Marquis is “a guy that continues to make pitches when he needs to.”  I guess he’s just making pitches, eh?

Astros 6, Royals 5: Matt Dominguez hit a three-run homer. Jason Castro hit a solo shot. Miguel Tejada hit a homer too. It was his first bomb since 2011. Jeremy Guthrie was shelled and has allowed 19 runs and 11 hits in his past two outings. The Royals are now a sub-.500 team.

Giants 8, Nationals 0: Ryan Vogelsong was cruising — tossing five shutout innings — until he broke his throwing hand while fouling off a pitch in the bottom of the fifth. Enter the DH people. Meanwhile, after the game Davey Johnson announced that Ryan Mattheus broke his pitching hand punching a locker in frustration Sunday. Jesus, people.